THE UNITED STATES VOCABULARY FOR CHAPTER 1
LIFE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
1. Bering Strait: A narrow stretch of water that separates Asia from
North America
2. Ice Age: A long period of extreme cold that occurred about 20,000
years ago. Low temperatures caused large areas of earth’s
water to freeze, forming thick sheets of ice, or glaciers.
3. Glacier: Thick sheets of ice that covered the earth’s surface during
the Ice Age.
4. Migrate: To move from one area to another
5. Theory: One possible explanation for something
6. Artifact: Object made by people in the past
7. Archaeologist: Scientist who studies the artifacts of people who lived
long ago and draws conclusions from them
8. Cahokia: Town in present-day Illinois, site of a 100-foot-high mound
built by people called the Mound Builders
9. Four Corners: Place where four states- New Mexico, Arizona,
Colorado, and Utah come together; was the home of
the Anasazi people
10. Mesa Verde: Anasazi community located in present-day Colorado
11. Ceremony: Activity done for a special purpose
12. Mesa: high, flat landform that rises steeply from the land around it
13. Drought: Long period without rain
14. Nampeyo: Pueblo woman who worked to re-create the Anasazi way
of making pottery
15. Valley of Mexico: Region in central Mexico, location of the Aztec
city of Tenochtitlan
16. Tenochtitlan: Capital of the Aztec Empire in the Valley of Mexico,
on the site of present-day Mexico City
17. Cuzco: Capital of the Inca Empire, located in present-day Peru
18. Civilization: Culture with organized systems of government,
religion, and learning
19. Surplus: More than is needed
20. Specialize: Focus on one particular product, activity, or job
21. Pyramid: Building with three or more sides shaped like triangles
that slant toward a point at the top
22. Empire: Large group of lands and peoples ruled by one leader
23. Tribute: Payment a ruler demands from people he or she rules
24. Slavery: Practice of owning people and forcing them to work